christmas in springfield
by Lynnlee22
Summary: Ensemble holiday one shot


**Cooper House**

"Merry Christmas," Marina smiled, stepping back a little to allow Harley to enter.

"Merry Christmas," she replied, the hesitation in her voice apparent despite her attempt to be upbeat and cheerful. "Here," she said, extending the foil covered dish towards her. "I made a cobbler."

Marina's eyes narrowed a bit. Gingerly she lifted the foil. "You really didn't have to do that," she said, the smell already confirming her worst fears. Clearly her Aunt's cook abilities had not improved with time.

"Look, Marina," Harley began, "If this is too weird, I can go…really."

Marina shook her head. "No. It's Christmas. It's about family and being together and that's what he wants. He's what this is about. No matter how weird this may be for us or how uncomfortable we may feel, we have to remember…we're doing this for him."

Harley shook at head in agreement as she began to help arrange the place settings on the table. This would be a most interesting Christmas dinner.

* * *

**Churchyard**

Running her hand over the carved letters, she realized she knew every groove by heart. Everyone said that time would heal the pain, but it hadn't. Nothing had—not time, not revenge, not work, and certainly not her piss poor attempt at moving on. Nothing could replace him. In her heart she knew that nothing ever would.

"God, I miss you, Ross," she whispered, laying the flowers on top of the stone. "Sometimes it seems like I miss you more every single day." She looked up at the sky, still amazed at how the world just kept going on even as hers feel apart piece by piece.

"Kevin and Jason are off on a skiing retreat," she managed, her voice shaking, "and Clarissa, God, Clarissa barely even speaks to me anymore. She flew off to Europe with Matt, Vanessa, and Maureen." She stopped then, allowing her words to resonate within her own consciousness. "I really am alone."

"You'll never be alone," a voice whispered behind her.

Blake stood, almost losing her balance as she spun around. "Mom," she shrieked, throwing her arms around her mother. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."

Holly leaned back, gently wiping the tears from her daughters face. "Not nearly as good as it is to see you, sweetheart, but I hate that I found you like this."

"How did you find me? How did you know to come here?"

Holly just smiled. "A mother just knows," she whispered. Kneeling down, she placed a single rose on Ross' grave. "Don't you worry, Ross," she said quietly. "She's not spending Christmas alone this year."

* * *

**Cross Creek**

"I heard that," Shayne grumbled, glancing up briefly from his place on the floor. "Oh, come on," he said, his voice rising in mock anger. "You're filming this?!"

"Come on, sweetie," Dinah cajoled, stepping closer to zoom in on the piles on screws and clips that lay heaped on the floor. "We're making memories. Just think of all the fun we'll have in our later years watching this back."

Shayne glared at her. "Yeah, I'm sure it'll be a real blast."

"It will," she giggled, elbowing him playfully in the ribs. "Besides, I'm sure Faith will really love watching her Daddy work so hard to make her so happy."

Looking up at her, he paused for a moment, growing serious, "You're right," he said softly. "And you know what?"

"What?" she asked softly, forever amazed at how a simple look from him could take her breath away. "I bet she'd like to see her Mommy work some too," he grinned.

* * *

**Bill and Lizzie's house**

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd swear this was some sort of reality show," Bill sighed, falling onto the couch as he kicked a toy truck from under his foot and grabbing a puppy from underneath him.

Lizzie smiled, as she continued furiously steaming cloth napkins. "Look at this face," she cooed, as the chubby ball of fur made its way into her lap.

"New plan," Bill sighed, "Every child under the age of seven gets a puppy for Christmas…with or without parental permission."

"Bill!," Lizzie chastised, "You can't take a baby from a mother," she whispered, still cuddling the puppy.

"Right, I wouldn't dream of it," he grumbled as he pulled his shoe away from another chewing pup.

"Honey," Lizzie teased, "Is something wrong?"

"Nah," he replied sarcastically. "Unless of course you count the fact that our house, that still, by the way, has the potential to be condemned, is about to be filled with your family. I have just cleaned the living room for the third time only to have your son wreck it again."

"My son," Lizzie asked, her eyebrows arching.

"Oh, baby," Bill scoffed, "that messy gene is all you. I'll claim all the charm and the winning sense of humor, but his ability to walk into a perfectly clean room and turn it into a disaster area in less than a minute….that's you."

"How sweet of you to say," Lizzie smiled. "Here," she said, handling him a box of napkin rings, "Make yourself useful."

"Right, because I wasn't doing anything else," he smirked, smiling up at her.

* * *

**Cooper House**

"Well, did she seem ok," Mallet asked, pulling Harley towards the far edge of the room.

"Ok might be a bit of a stretch, but she says she wants to do this for Henry. She wants this Christmas to be about family…for him…..speaking of," Her voice trailed off.

"Hey pal," Mallet said, swooping the young boy up into the air. "How are ya?"

"You're here!," Henry replied, his eyes sparking as he looked around the room.

"Of course he's here, "Marina replied. "He's your Dad and it's Christmas. Where else would he be?"

"I just thought that maybe…you know…that you'd be spending the day with your own family." Henry lowered his head, looking across the room at Zach and Jude, both of which had their heads buried in video games.

"Hey," Mallet whispered, kneeling down to look him in the eye. "Things may have changed for us. Your Mom and I may not live in the same house anymore and we may not be the same kind of family that we were, but we are still your family. If anything, your family just got a little bit bigger. You've got Harley and Zach and Jude here and we all just want to make this the best Christmas ever. You think we can do that?"

Henry was silent for a moment. Shuffling his feet he whispered, "I guess."

"Well, that doesn't sound very exciting," Marina responded, kneeling down beside him. "Look, Henry. Just because your Dad and I aren't together anymore, that doesn't change anything about the way we feel about you. We are both always going to be here for you. I mean, you are one seriously lucky guy."

Henry looked up at her. "I am?" he asked.

"You bet you are," Marina smiled. "You get to have Christmas here with me and your Dad and Harley and Zach and Jude. You get all these cool presents and get to eat all this good food and then…." She took a deep breath, and smiled as she saw Henry's eyes brightening in excitement.

"Then what?" he asked.

"Then," Mallet began, "You get to go see Dinah and Shayne and have Christmas with them and Faith…and good news big guy…..you'll be so full that you won't have to eat." He leaned in close to Henry and whispered, "Take it from me, your Aunt Dinah is good at a lot of things, but cooking…not so much."

Henry giggled as Mallet tickled his belly.

"Psst," Marina hissed, leaning towards Mallet as he stood up. "Harley brought a cobbler….two o'clock," she said, her eyes darting in the direction.

"Thanks for the heads up, " he whispered smiling at Marina.

"So, Henry," Harley, smiled, stepping towards the group. "You ready to get started on the best Christmas ever?"

Henry nodded and smiled as the group made their way to the table.

* * *

**Cross Creek**

"It's official," Shayne sighed, throwing a piece of plastic into the heap. "Satan designed this."

"Shhhh," Dinah laughed. "You're going to wake her up."

"Well, we wouldn't want that would we?" Shayne smirked pushing the pieces out of the way and scooting closer to her. "You know, I could think of much more ummm….stimulating ways to spend an evening."

Dinah leaned back, throwing her head back a little, "Yeah, I bet you could," she whispered. "I could also see the look on our little girl's face if she comes downstairs on Christmas morning to find her playhouse looking like some sort of disaster aftermath."

Sighing, Shayne's shoulders dropped, "You're right." He picked up the screwdriver and a piece of wood. "That paper says this is A, but A should attach to C, but there's no C. Because there's no C, I can't use screw G4 to attach them, which by default means that G4 cannot secure A to F."

"Come to think of it," Dinah said, "We have got all night."

Shayne tossed the instruction book behind him as he rolled towards her on the floor.

* * *

**Bill and Lizzie's**

"No! No! No! No!" Lizzie screamed from the kitchen.

"What?" Bill yelled, rushing in to the kitchen, his hand still tightly wrapped around a napkin ring. "Oh," he said, his eyes falling on the remains of what, he thought, was once a turkey. "What, uh….happened?"

"It's supposed to rest!" she whined, "So, I pulled out the rack, and opened the over door and left it there. It's something about the juices. Anyway, I was just out of the room for a few minutes….just long enough to go finish steaming the tablecloths and when I got back, it was like this,"

"Ok," Bill gently knelt down, picking up the bits of bone and bird from the floor. Placing them in heaps in the garbage, he looked up at Lizzie. "Come on, sweetie," he said, reaching out to her.

"Ugh," she recoiled, looking at his hands.

"Sorry," he smiled, grabbing a towel and wiping them clean, then reaching for her again. "It's going to be ok. We'll figure something out. I promise."

The ringing of the phone interrupted them.

"Maybe we get lucky and that's everyone cancelling?" he joked, smiling and looking at her, his expression growing far more serious when it became clear that she was not amused.

"Yeah, Hello," he answered.

"Bill, thank God," she sighed. "Is Lizzie there with you?"

"Uh yeah," he sighed. "Dinah, what's wrong? You sound…."

"Uh, Frantic, maybe? Yeah, that would be because I am. Listen, Bill, I'd love to chat, really…but I need to speak with Lizzie please."

"Uh, ok," he said, handing the phone to his wife. "It's Dinah," he whispered.

As Lizzie took the phone, he began to load the rest of the turkey into the trash. "You are all in serious trouble," he whispered to the brood of puppies, still licking their chops.

* * *

**Cross Creek**

"Lizzie, you are a life saver," Dinah smiled, as Shayne reached for the humongous doll house. "Thank you so much, really…..you just have no idea."

"Uh, sis," Bill smiled. "You never did explain exactly what happened to the instructions."

Dinah's face reddened. "I told you," she said sheepishly, "They uh…they got burned."

"Burned," Bill repeated. "You just accidentally set them on fire?"

"We didn't set them on fire," Shayne stammered. "They accidentally fell into the fireplace and there was a fire in it. It was just a freak accident."

"How do instructions accidentally fall in the fireplace?" Lizzie smiled.

The four walked in towards the living room, the pillows, blankets, and pieces of dollhouse still spilled out onto the floor.

"So this is the impossible dollhouse," Bill smiled?

"Yeah, this is it," Shayne answered.

"And you two were down here together trying to put it together?" he smiled.

"Yeah," Dinah smiled, turning to Lizzie. "Did you bring the kids with you? Are they in the car? I'd love to see them?"

"Wait…Wait," Bill smirked, "Why you changing the subject."

"Leave them alone, Bill," Lizzie smiled.

"Thank you, Lizzie," Shayne smiled. "It's nice that someone still respects privacy around here."

Bill laughed. "I gotta say though, you all must have some killer candles or something. It smells awesome in here."

"Not the candles," Dinah smirked. "It's the food."

"The food," Bill and Lizzie replied in unison.

"You cooked?" Bill asked.

"Of course not," Dinah scoffed, moving over towards Shayne. "I didn't want to ruin Christmas. I ordered out…had the whole meal catered. There's enough food in there to feed a small army…and their families."

"Really?" Lizzie glanced over at Bill.

Dinah looked back at Shayne. "I mean, you guys are welcome to stay, but I know you have plans at your house tonight."

"Actually," Lizzie sighed, "Our plans kind of..hit the floor earlier."

"Yeah," Bill replied. "The turkey bit the dust, so people are coming to the house, but there's nothing for them to eat."

"Bring them here," Shayne stated, looking over at Dinah with a smile.

"What?" Lizzie asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Sure," Dinah said, happily. "We've got plenty of food and we'd love for Faith to have everyone around her for Christmas. Invite them here. We'd love to have them."

* * *

**Cooper house**

"Well, I mean really what should I expect….they ran their own wiring," Marina sighed.

Mallet shown the flashlight back down towards the box on the wall. "I wish I could tell you I knew what I was looking for," he admitted.

"Oh, give me that," she sighed. "Just forget it. Christmas is ruined."

"What?" Henry said sadly, walking up behind them.

"I'm sorry bud, but the lights won't come back on which means there aren't any lights for the tree and there isn't any power to cook the turkey or any of the other food."

"Aunt Harley has a cobbler," Henry smiled.

"We can't have dessert before dinner," Mallet replied quickly reaching for his phone. "Thank God for modern technology. Mallet," he replied speaking into the phone.

"Yeah, Mallet," Shayne spoke quickly, "I just wanted to call you and let you know that we're changing things up a little bit over here."

"Oh," Mallet responded, attempting not to sound as disappointed as he felt. Knowing that the Christmas his son spent with Shayne would easily trump the one he spent with him wasn't easy.

"Yeah, it looks like we're going to have quite a bit of people over here, so uh…Dinah and I thought that maybe you and Harley and Marina might want to come and join us…you know….with the kids and all."

Shayne glanced back at Dinah and she put her hand on his shoulder. This was a big step for Shayne and if Mallet said yes, well it became a big step for both of them.

"Oh, uh…that's um…that's nice of you. Let me just run it by Marina and Harley and I'll call you back, ok?"

"Yeah, sure," Shayne replied, closing the phone in his hand.

"Well?" Dinah asked, her eyebrows raising hopefully.

"He said he'll check with the ladies and call back."

"That's a start," she smiled. "At least he didn't say no."

* * *

**Cross Creek**

Dinah quickly made her way to the door, smiling as she opened it. "Blake," she said, moving over and motioning for both she and Holly to enter. "Please come in."

"I brought wine," Blake smiled, handing the bottle over to Shane. "Two bottles…figured we might need it with this mix," she laughed.

"No kidding," Shayne smiled.

"And I brought some sparkling cider for those of us that need to stay sober," Holly smiled.

"I'm really glad you could come, Holly," Dinah smiled.

"Hey guys," a voice behind them spoke.

Dinah turned, surprised to see Mallet and Harley, followed closely by Marina and Henry.

"Zach and Jude decided to stay back at the house," Harley sighed, shaking her head. "They've both come down with a bad case of adolescence."

Dinah laughed, "I understand. I'm just really glad you all came…really…all of you."

As the group made their way to the table, Shayne pulled Dinah aside.

"Would you look at this?" he said, reaching over to pull her closer to him.

"What?" she asked, glancing up at him and smiling.

"We're hosting Christmas dinner. Who would've thought?"

Dinah smiled. "Yeah, she smiled. I guess you're right….just think…a few years ago we were in such different places."

"Different countries," Shayne smiled.

"With different people," Dinah whispered.

"The wrong people," he nodded.

"But not anymore," she softly replied, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Mommy"

Dinah looked down towards the voice of a dark haired, green eyed girl. "What baby?"

"Can we eat now? Henry says after we eat, we get to open presents," she spoke quickly, barely able to contain her excitement.

Dinah smiled. "Sure we can," she smiled, reaching down to brush her hair away from her face.

As Faith scampered off to the table, Dinah moved to follow her. Shayne reached over, gently grabbing her arm.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered, smiling at her.

"The merriest one yet," she smiled, as she took his hand and walked toward the table.

**The End**


End file.
